Typical aircraft propulsion systems include one or more gas turbine engines. For certain propulsion systems, the gas turbine engines generally include a fan and a core arranged in flow communication with one another. Additionally, the core of the gas turbine engine generally includes, in serial flow order, a compressor section, a combustion section, a turbine section, and an exhaust section. In operation, air is provided from the fan to an inlet of the compressor section where one or more axial compressors progressively compress the air until it reaches the combustion section. Fuel is mixed with the compressed air and burned within the combustion section to provide combustion gases. The combustion gases are routed from the combustion section to the turbine section. The flow of combustion gasses through the turbine section drives the turbine section and is then routed through the exhaust section, e.g., to atmosphere.
Certain gas turbine engines can include electrical machines embedded therein or coupled thereto that can be electric generators, electric motors, or a combination generator/motor. Such electric generators can be used to power supplemental propulsive systems, such as e.g., electric fans, or can be used to supply power to other aircraft systems. When configured as or functioning as an electric motor, such electrical machines can be used as starter motors for gas turbine engines, among other possible uses.
Gas turbine engines and electrical machines embedded therein or coupled thereto deteriorate over their respective service lives. Conventionally, engine health and electrical machine health have been predicted and assessed based on hours of service or other prognostication methods. However, not all service hours place the same amount of wear and tear on the engines and electrical machines. Accordingly, conventional methods for assessing engine and electrical machine health sometimes produce imprecise and sometimes inaccurate assessments of health. In addition, based on such imprecise or inaccurate assessments, servicing of the engine and/or electrical machines can needlessly be scheduled, or in some cases, not be scheduled soon enough. Moreover, many times engine and electrical machine health estimates are generally not provided in real time and thus adjustments to such deterioration cannot be made in real time, leading to less than optimal engine and/or electrical machine efficiency.
Accordingly, improved systems and methods for assessing engine and electrical machine health that address one or more of these challenges would be useful.